Dr. Boozman's Check-up

Jan252013

You may remember last year’s rather contentious debate over the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that when complete would transport 700,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada to U.S. refineries in the Gulf of Mexico and create thousands of American jobs.

We’ve been trying aggressively to move this project forward for well over a year. It was around this time last year that President Obama slammed the brakes on the project, despite the fact that his administration had been reviewing the Keystone pipeline permit for three years and already had conducted two comprehensive environmental evaluations of the project. At the time, President Obama cited the objection of Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman to the route of the pipeline as his reason for denying the permit. While Gov. Heineman’s concerns about the route gave the president an easy out on a tough decision, it is generally agreed upon that President Obama really punted because he did not want to offend environmentalists who oppose the project, an important constituency for him during an election year.

The time is now. Every day we wait, we put both our economy and national security at risk. The Keystone pipeline project will create thousands of well-paying jobs and helps reduce our dependence on foreign sources of oil, which are two of our top national priorities. There is absolutely no reason to continue to stall it.

Attached below is the letter fifty-two of my colleagues and I sent to President Obama this week asking him to move forward with the approval process for the Keystone XL pipeline. It concludes in part: “After four and half years of study, we urge you to stick to your deadlines.” We intend to continue the effort to see that happen.